CARS OF THE WORLD

Mostro Barchetta Zagato Powered by Maserati.

Beauty is a frightening power: the Mostro Barchetta Zagato powered by Maserati is presented.

This is one of the premieres of the past Concours d’Elegance in the Italian town of Villa d’Este.

The full name of the unusual sports car is Mostro Barchetta Zagato Powered by Maserati, but in front of us is not a completely new car but only an open version of an existing coupe.

The trick is that the base two-door Mostro Zagato Powered by Maserati appeared back in 2015, and was created for the centennial of Maserati.

Zagato is a longtime partner of Maserati: the first joint car saw the light back in 1931.

And in 1957 one of the most famous cars of this tandem was built — the racing Maserati 450S Coupe Zagato.

It was ordered by Striling Moss to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans marathon, and the British engineer Frank Costin worked on the aerodynamic design of the body.

With Moss’ light hand, the car was nicknamed Il Mostro, meaning «the monster» in Italian.

They tried to reproduce the look of this very sports car in the Mostro Zagato Powered by Maserati 2015, and the project was supervised personally by Norihiko Harada — a Japanese designer, holding the position of vice president of the atelier Zagato Design.

And now he has also presented to the world an open version of the new Monster.

As well as seven years ago, the Belgian supercar Gillet Vertigo 5 is taken as a basis.

It borrows carbon fiber monocoque, steel rear subframe (suspension, differential, exhaust system and gas tank are attached to it) and chassis with double wishbone pushrod type suspensions (with horizontal shock absorbers).

Atelier Zagato has developed an external «shell». Barketta turned out even more beautiful than a coupe because now there is no more alien rear wing.

The composite windshield frame, doors and glass, as well as the rear fairing are newly designed.

The interior is also different, with richer finishes. There is no folding roof, nor are there any ride electronics.

Both the donor Gillet Vertigo 5 and the Mostro Zagato coupe were powered by the Maserati V8 4.2 (420 hp) engine: it is mounted at the front within the wheelbase.

The same atmospheric engine is offered for the Barchetta, but in addition there is an alternative — a modern twin-turbo V6 3.0 series Nettuno, which debuted on the supercar Maserati MC20 and produces 630 hp.

The gearbox is a six-speed sequential and is mounted right behind the engine.

The Mostro Barchetta Zagato Powered by Maserati has 19-inch center nut wheels and AP Racing brakes. The weight of the car is 1200 kg.

The first Barchetta was ceremoniously handed over to the customer just at the Concours d’Elegance.

Only five cars in total will be built: the same run as the original coupe seven years ago.